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Time of India
a day ago
- Business
- Time of India
His vital role in progress of our nation shall always be remembered: Kharge pays tribute to Narasimha Rao
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday paid tributes to former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao on his 104th birth a post on X, Kharge said that Rao's far-reaching economic liberalisation policies were instrumental in "catalysing an era of unprecedented national growth.""We pay our tributes to Former Prime Minister, P. V. Narasimha Rao, on his birth anniversary. His government's far-reaching economic liberalisation policies were instrumental in catalysing an era of unprecedented national growth," Kharge Congress Chief further said that the reforms brought by Rao were pivotal in the "upliftment" and "expansion" of the middle class, and laid a foundation for a more "formidable and resilient India"."These reforms were pivotal in the upliftment and expansion of the middle class, thereby laying a robust foundation for a more formidable and resilient India. His tenure was also distinguished by significant advancements in India's nuclear program and the initiation of several forward-thinking foreign policy endeavours, most notably the 'Look East' policy," Mallikarjun Kharge said."His vital role in progress and strengthening of our nation shall always be remembered," Kharge on June 28, 1921, in Karimnagar, Telangana, and being an agriculturist and an advocate, Narasimha Rao joined politics and held some important portfolios. He was the Minister of Law and Information, 1962-64; Law and Endowments, 1964-67; Health and Medicine, 1967 and Education, 1968-71, Government of Andhra took over on the post of the Home Minister on July 19, 1984 and was re-appointed to this post, with the additional charge of the Ministry of Planning on November 5, was appointed as the Minister of Defence from December 31, 1984 to September 25, 1985.. On September 25, 1985 he took over as the Minister of Human Resource Development.
Hans India
a day ago
- Politics
- Hans India
Emergency: The betrayal that we must never forget, never repeat
It is tempting to believe that the national Emergency is history—done and dusted. Some like AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge even scoff, saying, 'It's a forgotten issue, raked up only by the BJP to hide its failures.' But such indifference is dangerous. The very reason we must observe this black chapter is to remind those born after 1975 that India once witnessed its Constitution being subverted, its democracy throttled, federalism undermined, and its people robbed of liberty and dignity. The Emergency was not just a moment—it was a mindset. A mindset that still lurks in the corridors of power, waiting for complacency to return. It must not be remembered merely as a historical footnote but as a blood-stained warning. A reminder that when citizens sleep, tyranny wakes. When a nation forgets to question, it forfeits its right to be free. Andhra Pradesh recently witnessed how blind faith in a single leader without vision and vindictive political attitude can ruin a state. Between 2019 and 2024, under Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, governance turned autocratic. The man earned the moniker of a political 'psycho,' and his party, the YSRCP, having been routed, still hasn't learned any lessons. Their brand of rule eerily echoed Emergency-era overreach—draconian laws, surveillance of dissent, and misuse of institutions. That is why we must understand: the tools of tyranny are always just a signature away from misuse. If we cannot guarantee that it won't happen again, we've learned nothing. And that would be the second betrayal. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in the newly released Emergency Diaries, recounts his role as a young RSS pracharak resisting Indira Gandhi's dictatorship. The book compiles first-hand accounts from those who stood with him in that fight. It's not about glorifying one man—it's about preserving the memory of those who fought to keep India democratic. While I do not wish to romanticise the rulers who imposed it, I refuse to whitewash the horrors either. Sanjay Gandhi—the de facto prime minister—led a brutal sterilisation campaign. Over 1.07 crore procedures were carried out in two years. People were denied rations, jobs, healthcare, and even housing if they had more than two or three children and resisted sterilisation. Coercion replaced compassion. Dignity was crushed. As a student at Delhi University, I witnessed this first-hand. I barely escaped arrest for resisting it. I remember the slogan that defines our collective duty today: Remember. Resist. Reclaim. Two moments are etched in my memory with permanent ink. The first: the night of June 25, 1975, when India lost its voice to Emergency. The second: the horrific 1984 anti-Sikh riots following Indira Gandhi's assassination. Thousands were killed, injured, and displaced. And yet, all Rajiv Gandhi could say was,'When a big tree falls, the earth shakes.' That was not just insensitivity—it was complicity cloaked in metaphor. Today, when Congress spokespersons and self-styled intellectuals lambast the Modi government for not calling a special Parliament session after Operation Sindoor or for not 'consulting' the opposition, I ask: did you ever question the undemocratic decisions under Congress rule? Take bank nationalisation in 1969. Was there a cabinet debate? No. The PMO summoned a Finance Ministry official and demanded a draft in three hours. An ordinance was issued unilaterally. When Emergency was imposed in 1975, even key ministers were unaware. Indira Gandhi called a meeting of select ministers including Jagjivan Ram during the early hours of June 26, told them of her decision, and then announced it on Akashvani. No agenda papers, no consultation, just dictation. This was not governance—it was authoritarianism. What followed was a national assault. A constitutional coup. At midnight—not to awaken a nation like Nehru once dreamed, but to push it into darkness—Indira Gandhi suspended the Constitution, jailed opposition leaders, censored the press, and turned institutions into loyalist echo chambers. Over 100,000 people were jailed under preventive detention laws like MISA (Maintenance of Internal Security Act). Parliament became a puppet theatre. The media, once the fourth pillar, fell to its knees. The bureaucracy obeyed whispered orders. The Constitution was turned into a pliable sheet of rubber. Fundamental Rights were suspended. Habeas corpus—the last refuge of individual liberty—was buried. The Supreme Court, the last hope, failed in its duty during the infamous ADM Jabalpur case. Only one judge—Justice H R Khanna—had the courage to dissent. For that, he was superseded and denied the Chief Justice's post. It took the 44th Amendment later to undo the worst constitutional wreckage. The Emergency was not imposed because of any real internal threat. It was to save Indira Gandhi's political career after the Allahabad High Court invalidated her election. The Congress sycophancy of that era echoed in slogans like 'Indira is India, and India is Indira.' What followed was not democracy—it was despotism draped in national flags. Where were the voices of conscience then? Today's loud liberal intellectuals—editors, poets, professors—pontificate on freedoms, but where were they when journalists were jailed and newspaper printing presses were sealed? Their silence then was louder than their activism today. The Emergency also exposed how easily our institutions could crumble. They were not destroyed from outside—but from within. The executive bent them. The judiciary surrendered. The press folded. The opposition was crushed. And yet, democracy survived—not because of institutional bravery but because of public resistance. At the helm of that resistance stood Jayaprakash Narayan. JP was no career politician—he was the moral compass of the nation. His call for 'Total Revolution' united students, farmers, intellectuals, and politicians across ideologies. His arrest wasn't just an attack on a man—it was an attack on the soul of India. He rightly said, 'This is not a struggle for power. It is a struggle for the soul of the nation.' And when he warned that if Emergency continued, democracy would die—he wasn't exaggerating. We survived because we resisted. India's democracy survived because the people stood up—not because the system saved them. Those who fought deserve honour. Those who stayed silent deserve history's condemnation. As we mark 50 years since that night, we must ask the hardest question: Could it happen again? The answer is asobering—yes. It can happen again if we become complacent. If we stop being vigilant. If we allow institutions to decay. If we forget history. Indira Gandhi is gone. But Emergency as an idea isn't. It lives on in every authoritarian instinct, in every call for censorship and in every abuse of power. It survives in every arrogant dismissal of democratic consultation, and in every attempt to centralise power in one hand. Emergency was not merely a past event. It was a trauma, a warning, a mirror. Let us never allow it to be repeated. Let us pass this memory to every generation. Not as a tale of despair—but as a torch of vigilance. India must remember. India must resist. India must reclaim. (The author is former Chief Editor of The Hans India)
India Gazette
2 days ago
- Politics
- India Gazette
Union MoS Nityanand Rai demands apology from Kharge for calling Bihar a
New Delhi [India], June 26 (ANI): Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai has demanded an apology from Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge for referring to Bihar as a 'small' state, calling the remark 'extremely unfortunate' and 'insulting.' 'The Congress President should immediately apologize to the 13 crore people of Bihar,' Rai said in a statement. Rai termed Kharge's remarks as 'extremely unfortunate' and 'insulting', saying, 'It is extremely unfortunate and insulting that Congress National President and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge referred to Bihar as a 'small' state. This is a highly objectionable remark made by him for people of Bihar.' MoS Rai further said that the 13 crore people of Bihar cannot tolerate the statement of the INC President at all. In fact, Mallikarjun Kharge has not only insulted peoole of Bihar but has also attempted to attack its glorious tradition, culture and public sentiment, which is the real character of the Congress Party. Former Bihar BJP President and MP from Ujiyarpur reminded the Congress President, 'Bihar is the land of democracy, land of Chanakya, land of heroes, the land of President should know that the land of Bihar is the birthplace of Mahavir and also the 'karmabhoomi'of Gautam Buddha.' Rai further added that Bihar is the land of 'Jannayak' Jayaprakash Narayan, who led against the imposition of the Emergency and brought the whole country together against the Emergency. 'The entire Bihar knows that the vision of the Congress party has never been to develop Bihar but the Congress party should know that this is the same Bihar where Karpoori Thakur worked to strengthen social justice. These days Rahul Gandhi keeps talking about social justice while touring the country and abroad but people of Bihar are not weak. People of Bihar know very well that how to give a reply and just wait for the time,' Rai stated. The Union MoS also raised questions the silence of Rahul Gandhi LoP Lok Sabha saying that Rahul Gandhi come to Bihar during the election season but his party busy to insulting the people of Bihar from Delhi. (ANI)
India Gazette
2 days ago
- Politics
- India Gazette
"Knows neither about democratic culture nor about country's culture": BJP's Manoj Tiwari hits back at Kharge over emergency remarks
New Delhi [India], June 26 (ANI): Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Manoj Tiwari on Thursday slammed Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge over his criticism of the BJP's observance of the 50th anniversary of the Emergency as 'Samvidhan Hatya Diwas,' saying that the Congress has no moral authority to speak on democracy. Reacting to Kharge's remarks, Tiwari told reporters, 'Yesterday was June 25. How can a Congress that can murder the Constitution believe in democracy? Mallikarjun Kharge is the President of Congress, but listening to his statements, it seems he knows neither about democratic culture nor about the country's culture...' On Wednesday, Kharge accused the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi of using the 50th anniversary of the Emergency to divert public attention from issues such as unemployment, inflation, and demonetisation. 'We are facing an undeclared emergency in the country today... The BJP got rattled by our 'Samvidhan Bachao Yatra' and started talking about 50 years of Emergency. Those who could not do much during their tenure, also could not give any answers on issues of unemployment, inflation and demonetisation, are doing this (marking 50 years of imposition of Emergency as Samvidhan Hatya Diwas) to hide their failures and repeated lies,' Kharge said at a press conference. He criticised the Centre for issuing a circular instructing all states to observe June 25 as 'Samvidhan Hatya Diwas officially.' 'The PM on behalf of the government has taken out a circular directing all states to mark the 50 years of Emergency as Samvidhan Hatya Diwas,' Kharge said. He also questioned the BJP's commitment to the Constitution, accusing the party of having had no role in India's independence movement or the drafting of the Constitution. 'I only want to say that those who are talking about saving the Constitution now are only trying to raise the issue that had ended in the past. Those who did not have any role in the Indian independence movement and the making of the Constitution are talking about it now. They had even burnt images of Gandhi ji, Ambedkar ji and others,' he further alleged. (ANI)
The Hindu
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Upset over State not implementing Direct Payment System, garbage collectors plan Delhi Chalo
Upset over the Congress government in Karnataka not fulfilling its promise to bring garbage collectors like sweepers under the Direct Payment System (DPS), Karmika Samrakshana Trade Union, representing over 15,000 garbage collectors in the State, has decided to kick start a Delhi Chalo rally on July 25. 'The entire Congress leadership had promised to free us from the clutches of contractors and bring us under DPS. It was part of their manifesto as well. But now, two years after coming to power, they are backtracking on this promise. So we have decided to march to Delhi and seek accountability from Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi,' said Tyagaraj, president, Karmika Samrakshana Trade Union. Speaking at the event where appointment letters to over 12,000 pourakarmikas were issued on May 1, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had promised that garbage collectors will soon be brought under DPS. However, three weeks later in the last week of May, Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar announced that garbage collection and transportation tenders were called in 33 packages for a period of next seven years, essentially going back on the promise to bring garbage collectors under DPS and locking them up under contractors for the next seven years. These tenders have run into legal hurdles in the High Court of Karnataka. Sources said the contractors' lobby has been strongly opposing taking out garbage collection and transportation from their hands. A section of bureaucracy has also opposed the civic body, or BSWML, taking over the operation completely, sources said. They cite a lack of vehicles, infrastructure, and a lack of credible rolls to bring garbage collectors on the rolls of the civic body. 'Finally, it's a policy decision by the political executive. In the absence of any directions to bring garbage collectors under DPS, we are continuing with the contract system,' a senior civic official said.
